"Achoo!"
In Liangzhou, within Heavenly Gate Pass, at the campsite of Cangya City.
In the firewood house covered with thick snow on its roof, Feng Boping, who was adding new firewood, suddenly sneezed so hard that the fire in the hearth nearly went out.
He rubbed the tip of his nose and mumbled to himself in confusion, "Why does my nose suddenly itch? Could someone be talking about me?"
Li Hao was nearby, kneading dough. Once the dough was ready, he tossed it onto another piece of warm stone to ferment.
Then he waved his hand calling over the Dragon Soar Sword and started chopping the selected demon flesh alongside it, swiftly cutting it into mince with sword chops.
"Such a good sword, and you're using it as a kitchen knife."
Feng Boping shook his head as he watched.
"Make the most of what you have."
Li Hao said with a smile. After preparing all the ingredients, he started to cook.
Since returning from Dayue City, they had resumed their peaceful life within Heavenly Gate Pass.
As for the demons outside the pass and the worries inside, they were all isolated by the endless snow, with only the daily hunting, fishing, and three meals to think about.
As lunchtime approached, Li Hao asked Little White Fox to call Song Qiumo and Li Hongzhuang over to get ready for the meal.
"Delicious!"
Li Hao's cooking skills won high praise from everyone. By Li Hao's side, aside from their own concerns, they looked forward to the deliciousness of these three meals every day.
While dining and chatting, Li Hao asked Song Qiumo to help and go to the nearby city in the afternoon to purchase some civilian supplies.
Now, in this campsite, aside from their fenced courtyard, Li Hao had gradually been constructing additional dwellings for other residents.
With his Fifteen Li Realm capability in controlling objects, participating in construction was extremely convenient. He split open a distant mountain, transported the rocks here, and fashioned them into simple stone houses.
"Are you really planning to build another city here?"
Before Song Qiumo could speak, Li Hongzhuang was the one who spoke up first. She swallowed a piece of meat she was chewing on and gazed intently at Li Hao.
"Not rebuilding, just restoring the original city," Li Hao said with a smile. "Anyway, I've got nothing better to do. Since we're supposed to guard a pass, it's only right to have a city."
Li Hongzhuang looked deep into his eyes and remained silent, but deep inside, she couldn't help but feel a surge of hope.
If the city could be built again, if all the demons outside the pass were suppressed and deterred, returning to its might of a hundred years ago, making those ferocious and bloodthirsty demons dare not invade—seeing that scene would surely bring tears to the eyes of the third and sixth brothers...
She lowered her head and tore at a piece of roasted meat tendon with her teeth, yet she tasted a hint of saltiness.
"I heard that you slew that Wan Shan's little Demon King. If I leave, what will we do if Wan Shan's Demon King takes the opportunity to launch a sneak attack?"
Song Qiumo frowned. After Li Hao returned from Dayue City, when the others asked, he briefly mentioned what had happened there, and that was how she learned about Li Hao killing the son of a Demon King.
Moreover, that little Demon King was of high caliber. As she was from the demon kind herself, she understood the potential of the little Demon King very well.
Translated to the Human Race, his abilities could even barely rival those of Li Hao.
As a result, such a prodigy among demons was killed by Li Hao, one could only imagine how furious that Wan Shan's Demon King must be.
The fact that another Demon King had been secretly protecting the little Demon King indicated the importance they placed on him. Even if faced with a lone Four Stands Realm, it might not result in trouble, but they did not expect to run into the combination of Feng Boping and Li Hao.
"There are traps I've set within three hundred li, I will be alerted if demons attack, and there will be enough time to retreat," said Li Hao, smiling.
The Fishing Sixth Stage traps were hidden, and combined with the attributes of Hidden Bow, they were not easy for even the Four Stands Realm to detect.
Also, the River Snow Painting, received from Grandmaster Bai Chunhai, was embedded into the Control Path, providing a camouflaging attribute where it harmonized with the environmental power of controlling objects.
The Qi Force attacks he used were camouflaged and hard to detect, which was a perfect match with the fishing line.
Even if the Four Stands Realm conducted a close inspection, it would be difficult to discover, not to mention from three hundred li away without any precautions.
However, to maintain a fishing line over such a long distance, Li Hao's Qi Force was constantly being consumed. If not for the fact that 98 main channels had been opened in his body, coupled with the Yin and Yang Dual Pulse, it would be impossible to sustain.
Now, he was just barely managing to compensate for the Qi Force during the process of absorbing and transferring.
"I'll go," said Li Hongzhuang to Li Hao. "Song is right. Although you have this senior's protection, you killed the little Demon King. I've heard that Wan Shan's Demon King was extremely fond of his sole son, treating him like a treasure. If he hasn't come over these days, it's most likely because he's waiting for Song to leave." Read today at NovelFire _em _pyr.
Song Qiumo's gaze flickered slightly as she looked at Li Hao and said softly, "I originally planned to stay for just half a year. Now that you're dealing with this, I will stay with you for three years."
Li Hao was slightly shaken, looked at her, but joked with a teasing smile, "Then what about your Tan Palace?"
"It's just three years, I have been looking after it for nearly a thousand years, it won't make much difference," Song Qiumo said indifferently.
Li Hao knew it wasn't as easy as she said. Song Qiumo was a recorded Demon King of Qingzhou, and she couldn't leave for a long time.
Being able to come here for half a year was probably the extent of what she could manage. Three years would be too much of a burden for her.
"We'll see, maybe they can't endure even half a year," Li Hao said, feeling an urgent need to strengthen his own power.
Of course, he had another way out.
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That meant temporarily abandoning this place.
But he was reluctant to break the three-year pact unless he faced certain death.
Song Qiumo nodded slightly, speaking softly, "If the Wan Shan Demon King comes, we will most likely face three Demon Kings!"
She had mentioned this before; Li Hao and Li Hongzhuang's eyes narrowed gravely. In addition to the two Demon Kings from Wan Shan's domain, the Dragon Lord who had previously clashed with Song Qiumo was also likely to intervene.
This seemingly calm Heavenly Gate Pass was actually on the verge of a horrifying disaster of annihilation.
Li Hao simply nodded and said nothing more.
In the following days, everyone continued to lead a seemingly normal life in the courtyard, but they were all secretly on guard for the possible sudden attack of the Demon King.
However, it appeared that the Wan Shan Demon King was not so enraged as to lose control and attack.
Perhaps seeing that Li Hao still dared to move within Heavenly Gate Pass, the Demon King was wary, suspecting hidden support behind the youth, so he chose a more secure method, which was to wait for Song Qiumo to leave.
Or perhaps, he was waiting for a lapse or opportunity.
On this day, two secret letters arrived at the courtyard.
Both were from the Divine General Mansion in Qingzhou.
One of the letters was personally penned by Li Tian Gang.
Upon seeing the name on the envelope, Li Hao pinched it and threw the letter into the stove to burn as kindling.
The other letter bore no signature; when Li Hao opened it, he saw it was from his second uncle.
Beyond expressing longing and concern, the letter also discussed the matter of the Wan Shan Demon King.
Li Muxiu had considered that the Demon King, grieving the loss of his son, might do something drastic and urged Li Hao to prepare for an attack by three or four Demon Kings.
At the same time, he pointed out a way for Li Hao: if faced with danger and the situation turned dire, have Feng rush to take him to escape to another place outside of the Liangzhou Territory.
That place was a secret realm, within which flowed the Mo River and it was of the Ghost Capital level!
Only those in the Four Stands Realm could hope to escape from this extremely perilous land, which stretched far and wide, virtually unstoppable, warranting its confinement and designation as a forbidden zone.
But Li Muxiu's pointing out this secret realm with the Mo River was not for Li Hao to use it to counter-kill the Demon King. Instead, within this secret land was Li Muxiu's younger brother stationed.
That was Li of the Li Family, Li Xiaoran.
Of the six sons in Li Muxiu's generation, three had perished, leaving three remaining.
Li Qingzheng stationed in the ancestral temple, Li Muxiu looking after Listening Rain Tower and sitting at Divine General Mansion, and the last was Li Xiaoran from the Li Family.
He was stationed just outside that Ghost Capital level Mo River.
The territory where the Ghost Capital level Mo River extended, once belonged within Liangzhou Territory, but since the river could not be navigated nor easily destroyed, it was designated a forbidden zone and separated from the territory.
A Ghost Capital level Mo River caused even the Dayu Divine Dynasty to officially announce the loss of that piece of land.
However, the reason for his stationing there was not to watch over the river, but because within it were the submerged ancestral spirits of the Li Family.
Those spirits included Li Hao's grandfather, Li Tianzong.
Li Hao had heard from his second uncle, while fishing, that his fourth uncle was rarely at the Divine General Mansion, but was instead repeatedly challenging and attempting to navigate that Mo River, trying to bring back the ancestral spirit of his elder brother who had fallen within.
It was unexpected that this Mo River was just outside the Liangzhou Territory.
Li Hao pondered for a moment before putting away the letter.
In the days that followed, the Wan Shan Demon King remained inactive, yet Li Hao received yet another reward from the Emperor Yu in the capital, delivered once again by Eunuch Chu Jiuyue.
"Count, we meet again."
Chu Jiuyue, seeing the familiar figures inside the small fenced courtyard, identical to the last visit, but now there was an added sense of domestic life, comfortable like a rural idyll.
Li Hao smiled and welcomed him into the courtyard, receiving the decree and learning that it was a promotion of his title, from a third-rank count to a first-rank one.
In addition, he was bestowed a hefty amount of gold, treasured artifacts, and servants.
Li Hao had not yet checked on the domain he was granted from his previous title, which was probably still managed by servants on his behalf.
He wasn't particularly interested in these rewards, but considering he would be leaving Heavenly Gate Pass in three years, having his own domain to settle down in wasn't a bad thing.
After accepting the decree, Li Hao treated Chu Jiuyue to a meal, and this time Chu Jiuyue did not decline.
During the hearty meal, he rolled up his sleeves, sat sideways by the pot, completely devoid of any image.
After eating his fill, Chu Jiuyue left contentedly on horseback. Before departing, he stealthily handed Li Hao a precious charm, informing him that it was what Emperor Yu truly intended to bestow - a Saint Heart Charm.
In times of peril, it could save his life.
Li Hao was astonished, having often chatted with his second and fifth uncles about such an item, and was familiar with it.
This was something used by those in the Four Stands Realm, and exceedingly rare.
Weapons and armor in the world were categorized by rank, such as the treasure artifacts used by those with inherited souls.
Spiritual Objects used from the Divine Travel Realm to the Celestial Master Realm.
Then there were the Divine Weapons and Armor for the Three Immortal Realms and the Four Stands Realm. Li Hao's Dragon Soar Sword, for example, was a Divine Weapon, recognized as one of the most renowned.
But here, the fame referred to was not necessarily indicative of the highest quality.
Some Divine Weapons were forged and seldom witnessed; those who had seen them might already be dead.
Regardless, this sword was among the pinnacle of Divine Weapons.
Above them were the Saint Heart Heavenly Treasures, extremely limited in number, and not all of the Four Stands Realm possessed them, only a few top-strong practitioners did.
This Saint Heart Charm was even more precious; as a consumable, it was incredibly valuable even to those in the Four Stands Realm.
The Saint Heart Charm in Li Hao's possession was not meant for offense but rather for protection.
If it was an offensive type of Saint Heart Charm, it could even threaten and harm those in the Four Stands Realm.
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